Play the Game
by sylphXx
Summary: Kate Marsh: Normal girl. Has vivid two-way conversations with her clothing. What happens when a simple dare leads four of the hottest guys at Hogwarts to pursue her? Simple. She plays the game. Marauder Period. Discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

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**Play the Game**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from JK Rowling's world.**

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**AN: WAAAYYYY more dialogue and less lengthy paragraphs next chapter. This is just to set the scene, so you can get a picture of how Kate starts out at Hogwarts.**

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**1. First Impressions**

The dying autumn sun and falling leaves, fading oranges and reds on the black cobblestone floor, brought with them the same things each year; chariots drawn by invisible horses and silent boats cascading over black, still waters, lit only by the twinkling candles that were always threatening to wink out. In the rising moonlight, First-Years with frightened expressions and ashen faces could be seen piling out of a bright red-and-black train that poured out black smoke and, upon arrival, begged for rest. This year was no exception. In fact, the only difference between this year and the others was what the professors would call a "late bloomer," (a Sixth-Year that had just received her letter) who seemed, at this time, to be missing from the Great Hall.

I, however, preferred to refer to my "late bloomer" situation as... well... no - actually, I preferred not to refer to my situation at all. I preferred to remain unacknowledged altogether. I, Kate Elizabeth Marsh, am a mostly normal girl, albeit sometimes a vain one. Like any other girl I fiddled constantly with my sunlit syrup-brown hair (a habit which I have finally overcome) which bounced weightlessly as I walked alongside the lake. I'd managed to get it to stay down before I boarded the Hogwarts Express - it always got kind of frizzy when it was moist outside, you know, with random wisps flying everywhere- and now, I was forced to battle the stupid weather to keep it down. It wouldn't cooperate, so I just gave it up. Who cares how I looked, anyway?

Alright, fine, I did. I cared too much - but, hey, who _isn't_ at least a bit superficial? Besides the nuns of course, they're insane.

I wasn't wearing my school uniform, the sole reason for that being that I'd fallen asleep aboard the Hogwarts Express and missed both the boats and the Sorting ceremony. In fact, it was ten o' clock in the morning, and I should've been halfway through my first History of Magic class.

I trudged along the muddy banks of the lake, stopping only take a rock out of my black Manolos, the first ones I'd ever bought out of a small store in Old Church Street this summer ('77) when I was visiting my now-dead great-grandparents. I wore nothing on my long, average-sized legs because it was still essentially summer in London and I wasn't quite expecting it to storm during my first night on the Hogwarts grounds. My white polka-dotted dress billowed violently in the wind, threatening to fly up at any moment. At least, I thought, I'm wearing dark blue. Maybe I'll blend in more easily with the black uniforms... I had no coat on that I could pull closer to my body to keep me warm, and my arms were bare - the soft curves of my shoulders covered by nothing but soft strips of blue polka-dotted fabric.

Since I knew that there was nothing I could do about my attire, I focused on looking poised and graceful while entering my new home. There would inevitably be people looking at me - there always were, it seemed - and I wanted to make an impression. As fate had it, make an impression I would.

Head up, shoulders back. Confidence is the most attractive thing there is. And you have to, have to, _have to_ look attractive. I walked in what I hoped was a graceful manner towards the building in front of me, acting like I had not a care in the world, forcing myself not to look at my feet but straight ahead. Looking at my feet would make me seem self-conscious and entirely un-mysterious, and I couldn't afford for people to figure me out the first day that I was there. That would just make me seem boring. Being mysterious and unreadable was something that I'd always prided myself in... but whether other people felt that I was mysterious or not was another story altogether.

"OUCH!" I screamed, as something took a swat at my ankles and tripped me. Something was whistling through the sky, and it wasn't just the wind that had been tearing at my dress a few moments ago. Something large and... wooden. I glanced up and a moving treebranch caught my eye. I dashed aside only to find that where my head once was there was now a giant gash in the ground. And my luggage was split in half, the contents spewed across what I presumed was my school's front lawn. Uniforms, dresses, skirts, blouses, ties, underwear strewn all over. I certainly couldn't leave my underwear there so I salvaged what I could from the wreckage and crawled at breakneck speed to the nearest door, fearing that the tree would strike again - or worse, try to follow me. There was no telling with these wizards.

I pushed open the door from where I sat on all fours, crawled into the room, shut the door behind me, set down the four pairs of underwear and two bras that hadn't been shredded by that blasted tree, and began tending to the two dresses that I'd managed to save from destruction. "Don't worry, everything's fine... shhhhh..." I whispered to my poor little dresses, "Please don't cry..."

You see, unlike most other girls, I believe that my clothing talks to me. My clothes always choose themselves out for me while I sleep and they wake me up in the morning by scratching their little coathangers on the inside of the closet door. They're restless and, moreover, when my dresses are happy, I'm happy. After all, the last thing I need is for one of my dresses to start riding up on me because it's upset that I haven't paid enough attention to it.

All of my dresses constantly feel the need for attention, which leads me to occasionally have vivid two-way conversations with my closet. Although it broke my heart to do so, I only brought three of my dresses to school with me - Anouk, Jackie (Named after Jackie Jackson, of the Jackson Five, since I obviously needed a name for a dress and couldn't find anything significant and girly-sounding... I mean, who care's if Jackie Jackson's a boy, right?) and Lola - I was wearing Lola at that moment. I'd loaned the rest to my thankful little sister, Eve, who I felt was "Just about ready to stop wearing those ridiculous, rancid high-top Chuck Taylor All-Stars and torn baggy jeans and start dressing like a real girl," as I had said to my family at the breakfast table right before I told them that I'd emptied my sister's old clothes into the incinerator and replaced them with my dresses - some new, some old - and a few lovely pairs of my old Manolos and SUSAN**BENNIS**WARREN**EDWARDS**' (that my father had, God bless that man, sent me from New York after my parents had divorced) Then, I'd dashed out the door with my sister screaming bloody murder and throwing waffles behind me, and headed for the Hogwarts Express. Too bad I couldn't manage to replace all of her Star Wars footie pajamas with nightgowns, seeing as she was wearing a pair when I raided her room the night before.

Anyways, when I opened the door, I didn't notice the classroom behind me. I, for once, failed to notice everyone staring at me and continued to talk to and stroke my dresses until what seemed like a freezing cold shower went right through me. I knew from experience that the cold shower was, in fact, a ghost. I whipped my head around and froze, staring at the class behind me and finally locating the being that had just passed through me.

"Would you, by any chance, be miss Katherine Marsh?"

Oh bugger, the cold shower was talking to me.

I nodded my head slowly. "Kate. Just Kate."

"Well, Miss Kate Marsh, welcome to History of Magic. My name is Professor Binns...."

The rest seemed just a jumble of words as I clutched Anouk and Madonna, covered up my underwear by sitting on it while staring at all the faces staring at me, and for the first time in my life, I sincerely wished that the ground would just swallow me. I mustered up what I wanted to come across as a coy smile that I directed towards a group of four boys in the back of the class, and inwardly prayed to God (Okay, I know I'm an Atheist, but I really need help. Right now. Come on. Can't we just forget about that incident at chapel? I DIDN'T MEAN TO LIGHT THAT PEW ON FIRE, THE CANDLE JUST SLIPPED! Ugh. Fine, be that way.) that my horror at the situation did not read in my expression.

**R&R, Please!**


	2. Chapter 2

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**Play the Game**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from JK Rowling's world.**

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**AN: Getting the ball rolling again... sorry about the huge delay!**

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**2. Compromised Attire**

At the end of shitty day one came the even shittier evening of day one. After the classes - what I'd presumed was the hard part - were over, I was forced to meet with a rather old man named Albert Dumbledore, whose licorice snaps decided to snack on my left hand during the meeting, eliciting from me a loud shriek. Anyways, that wasn't even the worst part of the night, believe it or not. Albert introduced me to... wait. No. Albus. Albus Dumbledore. Shit. I should probably remember that for next time. Okay, so Albus introduced me formally to my Transfiguration professor, Professor McGonagall. Tall, narrow lady ,with a long face and glasses, that (I think) enjoys being a cat more than being human. She gave me a small bag and told me to put my things in it, so I surrendered Anouk and Madonna, with my underwear well concealed in their folds.

"Supper begins at 8. Be in your uniform and - Miss Marsh? Look me in the eye when I'm talking to you. Yes, much better. Please show up this time - we will be sorting you into your house tonight, since you were absent yesterday evening. In the meantime, I will take these things with me and you will have them back once you've been sorted. Find your luggage and change, now, we can't have you wandering around in those clothes."

"But-"

"Miss Marsh, you will learn not to contradict your professors here at Hogwarts. No good can come of it."

"Yes, Professor."

"Go and change now, it's fifteen to. Goodbye."

"Righ-" Too late. She was a cat again. And I had no clothing. And - my wand! Yes, I'd nearly forgotten about it... But, all the same, I couldn't use it. I didn't know how. And I didn't _want _to, anyway.

Walking down the hallway, I spied the library. I tore into it without thinking, ran to a shelf a rather dark part of the library and, looking carefully, I found a book entitled "Illusions A-Z." I pulled it out, and examined the rotting cover. In fine gold lettering at the bottom, it said, "WARNING: THIS BOOK IS NEITHER M ISTRY APPRO D NOR SHOULD Y USE ANY OF THESE ILLUSIONS UN ESS YOUR CIRCUM ANCE IS DIRE. THE AUTHOR OF THIS COMP LATION OF SPELLS IN NO WAY END RSE THEIR USE. **ALL SPELL HAVE C NS** **QU C S**."

Some of the lettering had worn away. I flipped to C... Clothing... Clothing... Clothing... Aha! There it was, Clothing. Illusions possible: One that the wizard uses on himself to make others see him wearing what they want to see him wearing, another that a wizard can use on another wizard to make him think that his clothing is suddenly made of spiders and cockroaches and such, and a final one that a wizard can use on himself to make himself look like he's of the opposite sex. How the last one was in the clothing section, I have no idea. Maybe it just made you look like you were dressed in drag. _Hmmm... I wish you could use _that _one on other wizards._ I settled for the first - It would ensure that McGonagall saw me in my uniform, as she'd requested. Despite some minor misgivings, and seeing as I wasn't comfortable borrowing anybody's clothing after the impression I'd made that morning, I recited the words and touched the ballet flat on my left foot with the tip of my wand. "_Aspicio meus induviae__.__" _I looked at my tan arms and saw no difference in my clothing, so there was no way to tell if the spell had worked.

I walked into the dining hall, my head held high. I knew how to act as if there was nothing wrong, even though I was inwardly panicking about the fact that the spell could easily have failed - or worse, backfired. As I walked towards McGonagall, who was motioning for me to join her, I could swear that I heard a whistle or two coming from the Gryffindor table... the same four boys from History Of Magic.

"What a lovely surprise! You managed to come on time. To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure if it would take you longer than fifteen minutes to change, but your uniform is in pristine condition. You look marvelous. Ten points to whichever house you're sorted into."

My, was she in a good mood! Who knew a pristine uniform could work such wonders on her attitude...

"Attention, students." It was Alber- Albus, ALBUS! It was Albus Dumbledore, calling attention to McGonagall and I. "Students, please welcome Miss Katherine Marsh. She came in a little bit - ah - _late_, so we will be sorting her into her house today." There was snickering to be heard among the boys and whispering among the girls.

If there's one thing every teenage girl - every girl in general, for that matter - should remind herself everyday, it's that guys only have one thing on their mind. No matter how sweet a guy may seem, there's probably something perverted going on deep down inside. This, of course, I realized the hard way.

_WHAT WAS I THINKING?! MAKE PEOPLE SEE ME WEARING WHATEVER THEY _WANT_ TO SEE ME WEARING!?! For all I know, half of the student body - _I shuddered. _Ah, Fuck._

I sat down in a chair, in front of the whole student body, and I even saw the sorting hat raise his eyebrow folds at me as he was being put on my head. _Great, even the HAT is perverted._

I heard a voice in my head. _I heard that... _And all I could think back was, _Suck it, stupid hat._

"GRYFFINDOR!"

_WHAT?! After that conversation, I'm surprised I'm even being sorted, but GRYFFINDOR? As in, for the noble, the chivalrous, the brave? _And the hat answered back, before being taken off of my head, _Though you do have a dirty mouth, Miss Marsh, I think even you will be surprised by what's going on in your head._

_And that's supposed to mean... what exactly?_

"Go over and sit by James Potter. The one with the dark brown hair, sitting at the end of the table," she motioned to the back of the room, "He will show you around after supper. Come to my office before, though, to pick up your clothes and drop them off in your room."

I walked towards where she had been pointing and was lead straight to the two boys who'd been whistling earlier. And one of them turned out to be James. At a moment's glance, it was clear that the one with black hair was the best looking. Though, James and a more timid-looking kid were close behind him. And the fourth one was thin, with golden brown hair. He winked at me as I sat down, and I inconspicuously gave him the finger. I don't think he noticed.

----

After having finished eating and having learned the names of the other boys (Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew), I said goodbye and took a last, fleeting glance at Sirius, who (I think) had been staring at me all dinner. He gave me a weird vibe... then again, he'd give anyone a weird vibe after being introduced as,

"This is Sirius," and then, in a whisper, "He'll shag anything that moves. So try not to move too much."

He was still looking at me, so we made brief eye contact and he smirked a little. If I'm not mistaken, he was giving me the "I know you like me" look.

I kept walking.

----

I brought my clothes to my room and went to meet James in front of the boys' dorms. Only, he wasn't there. As the fire in the common room began to crackle down, the glowing embers casting a frail glow towards the burgundy couch on which I was lounging, I noticed that I was no longer alone. In the corner of the room, a shadow walked boyishly towards me and by the time I could make out the distinct porcelain skin and wide grey-blue eyes of Sirius Black, he was leaning towards me on the couch and I could feel his breath traveling down my neck. A vague tingly feeling travelled slowly down my spine.

"James fell asleep. It's almost twelve, you know?"

Had I really been waiting that long? I must've arrived at - what, eleven? I have to admit, it took me a while to find my room and rearrange all of the furniture. But had I really been waiting for almost an hour?

"Hm? Oh, wow... it's late. Why are you awake..." I trailed off. His eyes were a bit glazed, and he came even closer, until I was leaning back against the arm of the couch and his hands were on either side of me, his body next to - on top of, I daresay - mine. "Sirius..." I was scared. Okay, scared isn't even the proper term - I was_ terrified._ I'd already bragged to my roommates, while re-arranging my furniture, about my amazing encounters with good-looking guys. I'd gone into detail about the gorgeous boyfriends I'd had back home. And, truth be told? My stories were full of shit. I'd never kissed a guy before, even. Which is why, just then, when I had _no idea _what I was doing, I knew that I couldn't screw this one up. I knew that if I didn't know what I was doing during this, uh, _encounter_, it would be all over school the next day. And my reputation would be ruined for good. I had to find a way to snag Sirius Black, but it was too early.

I needed some experience first.

I leaned in, so our noses were almost touching, and he was looking at my lips. He looked back up at me eyes, then down to my lips again, and I smiled. I put one finger on his slightly parted lips and looked at them. He looked at me, surprised, the glazed look in his eye disappearing, and pulled away. "What?"

"I'm not that kind of girl," I said, while squirming from underneath him, "You're going to have to try harder than that." I stood right beside the sofa. He turned around to watch me go, leaning back on the couch, with his hands behind his head. He raised his eyebrows at me, and smirked. I leaned in and pushed back his hair, but he grabbed my hand as I was about to go.

"Kate," he murmured, "Do me a favor?"

"Depends."

"Next time you decide to leave your room in such... _compromised_ attire, warn me first?"

"Ah-um... Hey Sirius? Before I go, can you tell me what exactly I'm wearing?"

"As if you don't know. As much as my mind would love to let me describe to you in detail what you're wearing, I'll keep it simple."

"I haven't got all night."

"You're half-naked. And the lace doesn't help the situation."

At least the spell worked.

"Wait, what?"

"Night, Marsh."

Thank God - you know, I really need to stop saying that. I think I'll go with "Thank Merlin" from now on - that the spell was decent enough not to include nudity as an option for attire.

**I'd love to hear suggestions. Review/Message me!**


	3. Chapter 3

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**Play the Game**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from JK Rowling's world.**

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**AN: Okay, so I realized the inaccuracy of my first chapter, in which I mention the rise to fame of Madonna - I'd originally calculated that it would be possible for James and Lily to have gone to school in the 80's, but they in fact left Hogwarts at the end of the 70's - meaning they began their studies there around the beginning of the 70's. I changed the quote about Madonna... but, for lack of knowledge about the 70's, had to use a member of one of the few 70's groups I know well.**

**Aside from that, the only other comment I have is: Ah, young love.**

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**3. A Fine Proposition**

The next morning, my roommates were kind enough to wake me up in time for breakfast. And by "wake me up," I mean "pour cold water on me so that I screamed at them." And then, of course, they were all "It was just a joke, Kate. Stop being so sensitive."

I hate people like that.

And if you woke up to ice-cold water, would you be a happy camper? I think not. From the start, I knew that this day was going to be a real winner. I threw on the skirt and the awful socks, as well as a pair of kitten-heeled black shoes (which looked HORRIBLE with the stupid socks, I might add), as well as my ugly jumper and mustard/brick-red tie. I gagged when I looked at myself in the mirror, and threw on the robe/cloak thing that all students had to wear. I trudged downstairs and was passing through the commonroom when I saw none other than Sirius Black and James Potter, huddled over a map and a cardboard box behind an armchair. I tried to make out their mutterings.

"Okay, okay. Give that to me and then put that one - you-know-where."

"You-know-where? Prongs, what in Merlin's name are you talking about?" _They have code names? They're such children. _I giggled to myself. _That's actually kind of cute._

"And if that doesn't work..."

"If WHAT doesn't work!?"

"Just follow my lead, Padfoot. Grab that side of the box. Stand up on three. One... Two... Three!"

I dashed behind an armchair, but the cloack I was wearing wasn't being cooperative - I kept almost tripping on it and the stupid thing seemed to be laughing back at me. "YOU KNOW WHAT?! YOU'RE GOING TO COOPERATE WITH ME AND IF YOU DON'T THEN I'M GOING TO SHOVE YOU IN A WASHING MACHINE AND TURN IT ON EXTRA HOT-" I obviously gave James a start, but Sirius just raised his eyebrows at me and smirked.

"Oh! Hey Marsh, I didn't, uh, see you there... mind giving us a hand?" James was playing it cool, for some reason I hoped would remain unbeknownst to me. I still went a bit red before saying,

"What's in the box?"

"Well..." Sirius said, running his hand through his hair-

I heard a crash. "OUCH! Mate, I'm going to kick your arse for this!" Sirius had let go of his end of the box.

I raised my eyebrows at him. "Smooth. Very smooth."

He laughed nervously and ran his hands though his silky hair another time, before picking up his end of the box and proceeding to shuffle out of the entrance. "All right, out of the way," he said to me, a little roughly, "We have somewhere important to go." I stood still. "Move!" he said, and shoved by me. _What's his problem?_

"Whatever," I muttered to myself.

I waited a few minutes before leaving, so that I wouldn't run into them again, and made my way to breakfast. And guess who I met, yet again, the second I turned the corner.

"Mind giving me a hand, Marsh?"

"Why don't you just get James - or should I call him Prongs? - to help? And- Y'know- why do you insist on calling me by my last name?" I leaned casually against the wall, hoping I didn't fiercely exude the irritability I was feeling.

"Why? Do you have a problem with it?"

"As a matter of fact, I do."

"Fine, _Katherine, _would you mind giving me a hand?"

"Now you're just pushing my buttons."

"You can push _my _buttons _anytime_ you want."

"SIRIUS!"

"Yes, love?"

"I don't get it. Last night-"

"I knew you'd come crawling back to me."

"I'm not crawling back to you! I was never _with you _in the first place! Get it together, Black, not every girl alive wants to shag you. And especially not if you're an arse to her in front of your friends, then come on to her while you're alone!" He ran his hand through his hair, yet again, and leaned against the wall, facing me.

"Granted, not every girl _alive _wants to shag me. But stop playing, Marsh, I know that _you _do. I know what I'm doing - and... and I know that you're lying about those boyfriends you've had."

"Who told you-"

"Lily Evans. You know, you really haven't made a good impression on your roommates. They think you're somewhat of a tart, but I know better. You had no idea what you were doing last night, did you? I bet you've never even..." He let that thought trail off, and his eyes wandered to the paintings around us. I didn't ask what he was thinking, I'm pretty sure I didn't want to know.

_I thought I was pretty smooth... _

"I bet you thought you were pretty smooth, huh?" I didn't move, didn't say anything. "I saw it in your eyes, Marsh. You're so-" he leaned "-innocent."

"Am not!" _Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid! _ He chuckled, his bright eyes glowing, and ran both hands through his hair this time. His breath smelled like peppermint. He turned so that he was facing the opposite wall, his back on the wall instead of his shoulder and his hands behind his head. When he moved, he came so close that I could smell his sweater - cinnamon. He lounged like that for a bit, staring at the opposite wall, before saying,

"It's all right, though," he remained in the same position, but turned his head towards me, "I kind of get off on that."

"All right, Black, if you think you can just keep me from going to breakfast to tell me how much I'm in love with you, you're so sorely mistaken it's not even funny. I bet _you_ wouldn't last a day without coming on-"

"You know what? I'll make that bet, then." He turned towards me and his eyes lit up with such a fierce, quizzical intensity that just based off of that I should've known better than to-

"Wait, what?"

"I know what you were about to say. You bet me that I couldn't go a day without coming on to a girl."

"More specifically, _me._ I've been here two days and you've already already tried to hit on me twice. How about… I bet that you can't go all year without coming on to me."

"All right… but I can't guarantee that _you_ won't come on to _me."_

"I bet I can go longer than you can. I bet that I can go longer without pursuing or coming on to you than you can go without pursuing or coming on to me."

"Fair enough. So pursuing means anything from me coming on to you to me getting into your knickers, right? And same goes for you, _Kate_." He winked at me.

"Glad to see you've finally learned my name."

"Wait, define 'coming on to' for a moment."

"Erm... I guess it's kind of open for interpretation. If it meant 'hitting on' then there'd be too much room for debate as to what constitutes hitting on someone. So, let's just change it to anything from one of us trying to snog the other to us - well, you know."

He conjured up a contract, I scanned it over briefly, and we both signed. He smirked his stupid, annoying, arrogant, mischievous smirk.

"Great. Now that we got t_hat _out of the way... I was going to say before that _Kate _sounds hotter anyway. And if you ever feel a burning desire to say my name," he winked again, "I'd prefer if you called me Sirius, not Black." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Can we change the clause about snogging to make it say 'coming on to' instead?"

"Too late. You already signed."

_Ugh. Fine. Done deal._

"Breakfast time," I said, and pointed down the hall. He let me go, but kept watching me and smiling as I went. _Wait a second..._ I stopped, dead in my tracks, and whipped around, "Black…!" He grinned, "What exactly is going to happen if I lose this bet?"

"Don't worry, I put a clause in about that."

"Like _that_'s supposed to comfort me."

"If you lose, you have to do whatever I want you to," I cringed, "If you win, then I leave you alone. Never bother you again. Not even with random sexual innuendos."

"And if neither of us ever…?"

"Then we don't really have a problem as to who likes the other anymore, do we?"

Right.

I definitely had to win this bet.

---

Surprisingly enough, breakfast passed without any further event. Sirius stayed away from me, and I sat with Remus - he would be tutoring me so that I could catch up on the last six years of school. He told me that I had an uncanny ability to do magic, though, so he figured that it wouldn't be too hard. Remus told me that I got my letter late because they weren't entirely sure whether I was capable of doing magic - but then, I'd received my ability a couple years late, and demonstrated enough discipline in m school studies that Dumbledore believed that I could catch up within the first months of school - no small feat, I assure you, seeing as the NEWTS would take place at the end of the following year. I would be taking the OWLS at the end of this year, but I barely knew magic. Remus assured me that I'd be fine, and he'd teach me everything I needed to know. I was still scared.

At the moment, he was teaching me how to levitate my breakfast, and it was going fairly well. Aside from the part where I became so happy about finally being able to levitate my food that I hugged him, and everything proceeded to fall on his uniform. _My _new uniforms would be coming in the mail on Monday, and it was Friday, so I had nothing to worry about. In the meantime, I wore the same uniform as the day before.

The first Hogsmeade (where everyone does their shopping, I assume) visit, as Dumbledore just announced, was coming up in a week, so I'd be able to buy more underwear. In the meantime, I'd have to wash the three or four pairs that I still owned over and over until next week was done. Hopefully they'd have someplace to get underwear in Hogsmeade. Dumbledore was also babbling on about something called the "Tri-Wizard Tournament," but I'd since tuned him out.

"So. Are you putting your name in?" Remus asked, after Dumbledore had stopped talking.

"What?"

"To the cup. You know, for the Tournament?"

"Oh… well, I don't know. I don't really know any magic… what's it all about, anyways?"

"Well, there are these challenges that the contestants have to go through to win the Cup. The contestants are selected one from each of the three wizarding schools - Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and us."

"What happens if you win?"

"Eternal glory, et cetera."

"And if you lose?"

"Nothing eventful, really. Unless you die during one of the challenges."

"Hm."

"I'm putting my name in, I think… but last year there was a swimming challenge at Beauxbatons, and I don't know-" He looked down., "Oh, well, nevermind."

"What?"

"Nothing." He pushed his glasses up on his nose, and buried his face in a book of charms.

"No, tell me! I wont judge. I mean, I talk to my _clothes _for Merlin's sake!"

He looked up at me, "I can't - I can't swim." He mumbled quickly, and looked down again.

"We can fix that." I smiled.

"I really don't think so."

"It'll be easy. I'll teach you."

"Yeah. Right."

"No, really. I will. In the lake."

"The lake's freezing."

"You know magic, my friend. Figure something out."

"Really?"

"Sure… I mean, you're wasting all of _your_ time tutoring me… why not?"

"I- I- um…" He took off his glasses and wiped with with his sleeve, then put them back on.

"Meet me by the lake - the side nearest to the woods - tomorrow morning."

"But… I don't want people to see me flailing around like a stupid git."

"Fine. Tomorrow night, ten," I got up to go to first period, "Don't forget your swimming trunks. And try not to be late?"

 "Am I ever late to anything educational?" I'd never seen him poke fun at his own studiousness, (_Is that even a real word?_) so I giggled.

"Hey, you never know. No chickening out either."

"I'll see you in History of Magic."

"See you!" I said, and bounded off to first period.

**Thanks you to all the people who reviewed/favourited me or put me on Alerts. It's really encouraging :)**


	4. Chapter 4

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**Play the Game**

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**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from JK Rowling's world.**

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**AN: Bet you didn't see this one coming… You know, I should try not to be so predictable. I'll work on that in the future.**

**Short Chapter, Btw. **

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**4. Making Friends**

Teaching Remus how to swim wasn't the only thing eventful that happened on Saturday night. Before I headed down to the lake, I went to a sleepover that a girl named Lily was holding. I guess my roommate thought it best not to exclude me and decided on inviting me. I wore a pretty, rose-petal-pink, warm nightgown and some fuzzy white socks that I scrunched down around my ankles. I grabbed my pillow and sheets and followed my roommate, Melody, to the sleepover. Apparently we had arrived a bit late, because everyone was in a circle and there was a bottle in the middle.

_Spin the bottle? _I looked at the faces in the circle. _But these are all girls…_

"Truth or dare," Melody said, and I sat beside her.

The rules were explained to me: You spun the bottle, and whoever it landed on had to choose truth or dare. Then, the person that just chose spun, and the process repeated itself. The dares would be carried out at the latest by for the truths, before you answered one, you had to take three drops of veritaserum. A girl named Thalia had managed to acquire a small vial because her father worked at the Ministry of Magic. I guess that's one of the perks of wizard's truth or dare.

We started with an average-height, slender redhead that was one person away from me.

The redhead, Lily (I'd been her partner in Potions), chose dare, and was met with a chorus of voices.

"How about..."

"I dare you to have James' babies!"

"Ha, ha, very funny, guys."

"I wasn't joking, Lily."

"Oh, shove it, Catherine."

"Okay, then how about..."

"She should have to kidnap Mrs. Norris, or something. You know, the new cat that Filch just got?"

"What the hell would I do with a cat?"

"I dunno... eat it?"

"That thing bugs the crap out of me with all its psycho mewing."

"I will _not _eat Filch's cat."

"Isla's just stupid. Don't pay any attention to her. I have an even better-"

"Lily has to go skinny-dipping in the lake tomorrow night." I chimed in. Their conversation was getting annoying; hadn't they ever seen movies with truth-or-dare in them?

"That's a good one."

"Oh, come on, Kate. It's freezing!"

"That's what _magic _is for. You wizards really ARE hard-headed. All for the lake idea, light your wands!"

I was surprised that people actually listened; they whipped out their wands and a chorus of seven voices whispering, "Lumos," greeted my ears.

"So it's settled. Tomorrow night-"

"But that's where the Marauders hang out!" She shrieked, all of a sudden.

"What do you think the_ point _of the dare was?" I replied, smiling.

"I'll get you for this one, Marsh." She said, in a friendly-rivarlry sort of tone. A brief smile flickered across her face.

I picked up my butterbeer and had the last sip. It was going to be a long night.

------

We'd decided to go counter-clockwise, so I was second to last. The highlights were:

Lily: Dare: Skinny-dipping in the lake.

Charlotte: Dare: Make a polyjuice potion, lock Lily in a closet, and kiss James. (Lily was in the bathroom for this one. Heh heh heh...)

Melody: Truth: Did she really blast off her toes on one foot in Defense Against the Dark Arts class in third year during a duel? No, she didn't. They're actually just permanently invisible. (She poked one)

It was early in the morning - around two or three - and it was my turn. More than half of the girls had gone to bed right after their dares were assigned or truths were answered. The girl after me in the circle, Susan, had fallen asleep sitting up, and we were to wake her when it was her turn.

"Your turn, Marsh." Lily grinned, as if she'd been waiting for a very long time for this.

"Oooh, I have an idea..." Susan leaned over, and whispered something in Lily's ear.

"Not bad."

"I vote she shags Sirius." Charlotte laughed, and everyone else joined in. I managed to muster up a nervous giggle. _Shit._

"Wait, I have a better one!" Thalia whispered something to Lily who whispered it to Alina.

"Perfect." Lily was grinning evilly, and she had a sort of crazy glint in her eye. I attempted to keep my composure.

"So. What great idea have you guys come up with this time?" I asked, coolly. _They're going to ruin me. I know it._

"So, you can get any boy you want, huh?" That was my reputation, biting me in the arse.

"Well.." _Double shit._

"Don't be modest."

"Yeah, I mean, you're pretty." Thalia chimed in.

"Thanks."

"So, you're going to get the Marauders." Lily said. With her large mass of red hair and that crazed look in her eye, she really did look psychotic.

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"No problem," I said, still keeping my cool, "Which one?" _Not Sirius. Not Sirius. Not Sirius._

"I don't think you understand." Miranda interrupted

"I mean _all _of them, Marsh."

I have no idea how I did it - maybe I was in shock - but I didn't freak out. I merely said,

"I'm not shagging all four Marauders, Lily."

"No, of course not. But you _are _kissing all of them."

"_In one day?_"

"I thought you could get any guy you want, anytime you want."

"Well." She had me there.

"So it's no problem, then?"

"Well - I - ah... I have standards, you know. I can't just go snogging _anyone_. And - and - Remus has a girlfriend. And Sirius-"

"I really don't see what you're on about," Athena began, "Sirius and James are hot. It should be fun. Remus isn't so shy anymore... believe me, I know," I raised my eyebrows at that, "Peter's a bit too skinny, in my opinion, but I think he's started gaining weight, so he might look better already."

_Fuck, _is all I could think. Oh, and,"You get around."

"Fuck you."

_There was really no getting out of this. So I said,_"...alright. But let's make this interesting."

"Hmm?"

"Give me a time limit, or something. How about… two hours? That sounds good." _This is INSANE. But...at least if when I don't kiss Sirius people might think the time limit screwed me up…_

Lily blinked. I confused her. _Yessssss. _ "Two hours... yeah, okay."

I looked for my watch then remembered leaving it at home.

 "Hey guys - what time is it?"

"Ten-ish…"

 "Oh shit, I gotta go. Wake me up around nine tomorrow if I'm not already up, okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

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I ran down to the lake and found Remus waiting there. Only, he wasn't alone - Sirius and James were there too.

"What're _they _doing here?" I hissed at him, and he replied, simply, "I think they wanted to watch."

_Wanted to ogle me in underwear is more like it._

"You know, Marsh, you promised me you'd warn me before - well, you know."

"I'm not taking my clothes off, Black."

"I was under the impression that _that _was the only pair of pajamas you had left."

I scowled at him and turned to Remus.

"Come on, let's go." I said, then turned to wade into the lake.

**R&R Please :) Oh, and today's date is 07/08/09!**


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